Week 15 (December 3-7)
M (E) Discuss "The Second of the Three Spirits" (pp. 43-51)
Questions for discussion:
(1) Review the places and scenes visited in Stave Two (with the Ghost of Christmas Past); why are these scenes important for us to understand Scrooge?
(2) What can we make of the description of the Ghost of Christmas Present? (See esp. page 45)
(3) What are the places and scenes visited with this Ghost? What is Scrooge's reaction? Why are these scenes important?
HW: Study for Wordskills, Unit 2 Test
Bonus Words: empathy, imagery, leitmotif (motif), versimilitude, ellipses
T (F) Wordskills, Unit 2 Test
Bonus: Explain in detail, showing you understand the meaning of the underlined word. Use complete sentences.
Describe a time when you were empathetic with someone. What did you learn from this experience?
HW: Read, "The Second of the Three Spirits" (pp. 51-60)
W (A) Pre-Performance Discussion of Alley Theater's A Christmas Carol
Th (B) FT to A Christmas Carol, Alley Theater; discuss Alley Theater production
HW: Students can prepare for make-up work on vocabulary (connotation and denotation in A Christmas Carol).
Denotation: the literal, dictionary definition of a word (example: homework is the work you do, usually for school, at home)
Connotation: the emotions or ideas associated with a word, but not part of its literal definition (example: homework is yucky, boring, drudgery, etc.)
Thanks to Mrs. Howard for the above example!
F (C) Students work on blog posts #1 and #2, vocabulary study of connotation and denotation in A Christmas Carol (make up points for NTS vocabulary test).
M (D) Discuss "A Christmas Carol," Stave 4 "The Last of the Three Spirits"
Appeteaser: What are the dominant themes that have emerged in "A Christmas Carol"?
Discuss themes, noting evidence especially in Stave 4
Questions and observations about Stave 4
Overview for Final Project: Creating annotations for "A Christmas Carol"
Research resources and add annotations and brief reviews of various media interpretations of "A Christmas Carol";contribute to shared blog ("Epic Blog of Awesomeness"); 3-minute oral presentations (share resource, what you learned, how it affected your understanding of Dickens's story). Note: All three blog posts will count as a project grade.
HW: Read "A Christmas Carol," Stave 5, "The End of It"
Long period: Blogging
T (E) Discuss "A Christmas Carol," Stave 5 (end); planning an in-class essay: themes in "A Christmas Carol"
HW: Brainstorm: theme ideas for essay (5 points); review English Workshop, "Planning a Composition" (p. 21) Mind-mapping Tools: Ten Terrific Mind Mapping and Brainstorming Tools Bubbl.us
W (F) Planning an in-class essay on "A Christmas Carol": outlining and finding evidence (finish for homework if needed) (20 points)
HW: Review English Workshop, "Writing Introductions" (p. 23); "Main Ideas and Topic Sentences (p. 13); prepare your essay for Thursday. Correction to essay preparation sheet:
Conclusion that ties together the points of the essay and considers their impact on the story. (Note: The conclusion should not merely restate earlier points; instead, it should reflect on the meaning found in them.)
Th (A) Change in schedule: no essay. Work on and turn in essay plan (brainstorm and outline) for a quiz grade.
Appeteaser: What did you learn from the process of planning an essay about a theme in "A Christmas Carol"? Was this way of responding to the story interesting or fun for you? Why or why not? What alternative assignment would you propose to wrap-up our study of Dickens's story?
Blog Post #3: Annotating "A Christmas Carol"
1. Choose a passage from the Dickens story that you would like to learn more about. Do you want to understand the vocabulary? visualize the Victorian era? investigate allusions to historical or other information?
The first part of your blog will explain your interest in the passage, quote the passage itself, link to a text version, and copy/paste the section of the story into your post.
2. Once you choose a passage, conduct a search to help you make sense of the scene or comment made. Look up definitions of words, historical context, etc. Do not overlook image searches! If you can find an image or other media to enhance your understanding of the passage, include a link to it, or if it is copyright free or available under Creative Commons, embed it into your blog post.
This is where you share your resources and tell how you found them. Name your resources. Include links and media as appropriate. (Hint: Do spend too much time hunting for pictures. Use a few quick search engines, such as Compfight, Behold.cc, or Google Advanced Image Search -- at home with supervision, and then move on.)
3. Add a final paragraph in which you reflect on your new understanding of the passage.
* "Think out loud" about how your research clarifies and deepens the story for you. What new meaning or understanding do you discover? How do you think your research would be helpful for others.
Include any photo credits needed at the end of your post. PHOTO CREDIT: Name of Photographer, "Title of Photograph," Name of Website, Date, url.
F (B) Introduction to research for "A Christmas Carol" blog post. Ph.D. in Googling
M (C) Work on "Christmas Carol" blog post
HW: Work on "Christmas Carol" blog post as needed
T(D) Work on "Christmas Carol" blog post
HW: Work on "Christmas Carol" blog post as needed
W (E) Work on "Christmas Carol" blog post; all three blog posts due at the end of class (to be graded as 2nd quarter project)
Th (F) TBA
Happy Holidays!
Week 15 (December 3-7)
Week 15 (December 3-7)M (E) Discuss "The Second of the Three Spirits" (pp. 43-51)
Questions for discussion:
(1) Review the places and scenes visited in Stave Two (with the Ghost of Christmas Past); why are these scenes important for us to understand Scrooge?
(2) What can we make of the description of the Ghost of Christmas Present? (See esp. page 45)
(3) What are the places and scenes visited with this Ghost? What is Scrooge's reaction? Why are these scenes important?
HW: Study for Wordskills, Unit 2 Test
Bonus Words: empathy, imagery, leitmotif (motif), versimilitude, ellipses
T (F) Wordskills, Unit 2 Test
Bonus: Explain in detail, showing you understand the meaning of the underlined word. Use complete sentences.
Describe a time when you were empathetic with someone. What did you learn from this experience?
HW: Read, "The Second of the Three Spirits" (pp. 51-60)
W (A) Pre-Performance Discussion of Alley Theater's A Christmas Carol
Th (B) FT to A Christmas Carol, Alley Theater; discuss Alley Theater production
HW: Students can prepare for make-up work on vocabulary (connotation and denotation in A Christmas Carol).
Denotation: the literal, dictionary definition of a word (example: homework is the work you do, usually for school, at home)
Connotation: the emotions or ideas associated with a word, but not part of its literal definition (example: homework is yucky, boring, drudgery, etc.)
Thanks to Mrs. Howard for the above example!
F (C) Students work on blog posts #1 and #2, vocabulary study of connotation and denotation in A Christmas Carol (make up points for NTS vocabulary test).
A student shared this collection of digital flashcards for A Christmas Carol on Quizlet. Thanks for taking the initiative!
Week 16 (December 10-14)
M (D) Discuss "A Christmas Carol," Stave 4 "The Last of the Three Spirits"
- Appeteaser: What are the dominant themes that have emerged in "A Christmas Carol"?
- Discuss themes, noting evidence especially in Stave 4
- Questions and observations about Stave 4
- Overview for Final Project: Creating annotations for "A Christmas Carol"
Research resources and add annotations and brief reviews of various media interpretations of "A Christmas Carol";contribute to shared blog ("Epic Blog of Awesomeness"); 3-minute oral presentations (share resource, what you learned, how it affected your understanding of Dickens's story). Note: All three blog posts will count as a project grade.HW: Read "A Christmas Carol," Stave 5, "The End of It"
Long period: Blogging
T (E) Discuss "A Christmas Carol," Stave 5 (end); planning an in-class essay: themes in "A Christmas Carol"
HW: Brainstorm: theme ideas for essay (5 points); review English Workshop, "Planning a Composition" (p. 21)
Mind-mapping Tools:
Ten Terrific Mind Mapping and Brainstorming Tools
Bubbl.us
Second Chances Brainstorm (Inspiration)
W (F) Planning an in-class essay on "A Christmas Carol": outlining and finding evidence (finish for homework if needed) (20 points)
HW: Review English Workshop, "Writing Introductions" (p. 23); "Main Ideas and Topic Sentences (p. 13); prepare your essay for Thursday.
Correction to essay preparation sheet:
- Conclusion that ties together the points of the essay and considers their impact on the story. (Note: The conclusion should not merely restate earlier points; instead, it should reflect on the meaning found in them.)
A Christmas Carol essay plan.docx
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Th (A) Change in schedule: no essay. Work on and turn in essay plan (brainstorm and outline) for a quiz grade.Appeteaser: What did you learn from the process of planning an essay about a theme in "A Christmas Carol"? Was this way of responding to the story interesting or fun for you? Why or why not? What alternative assignment would you propose to wrap-up our study of Dickens's story?
Blog Post #3: Annotating "A Christmas Carol"
1. Choose a passage from the Dickens story that you would like to learn more about. Do you want to understand the vocabulary? visualize the Victorian era? investigate allusions to historical or other information?
- The first part of your blog will explain your interest in the passage, quote the passage itself, link to a text version, and copy/paste the section of the story into your post.
- Create a link to the page for your passage based in this e-text version of the book: http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DicChri.html
2. Once you choose a passage, conduct a search to help you make sense of the scene or comment made. Look up definitions of words, historical context, etc. Do not overlook image searches! If you can find an image or other media to enhance your understanding of the passage, include a link to it, or if it is copyright free or available under Creative Commons, embed it into your blog post.3. Add a final paragraph in which you reflect on your new understanding of the passage.
F (B) Introduction to research for "A Christmas Carol" blog post.
Ph.D. in Googling
Creative Commons Made Simple
HW: Choose a passage for your "Christmas Carol" blog post.
Week 17 (Dec. 17-21)
M (C) Work on "Christmas Carol" blog postHW: Work on "Christmas Carol" blog post as needed
T(D) Work on "Christmas Carol" blog post
HW: Work on "Christmas Carol" blog post as needed
W (E) Work on "Christmas Carol" blog post; all three blog posts due at the end of class (to be graded as 2nd quarter project)
Th (F) TBA
Happy Holidays!